Cumberland County Judge Kevin Hess orders 30-year-old rape and aggravated assault charges be cleared from record of Willie James Nesmith

A Carlisle native whose 1982 rape conviction was voided in 2000 based on DNA evidence may have cleared his name of the charge.

Cumberland County Judge Kevin Hess Tuesday ordered the 30-year-old rape and aggravated assault charges expunged from the record of Willie James Nesmith. The action becomes final in 30 days if no one appeals.

Hess in 2000 vacated Nesmith’s rape conviction and granted his motion for a new trial after DNA testing of 18-year-old semen samples from the underwear of the victim, a Dickinson College coed, excluded Nesmith as a source of DNA in the semen.

Then-District Attorney Skip Ebert chose not to retry Nesmith after consulting with the victim, but the charges stayed on his record.

Nesmith had been paroled in 1992 after serving 10 years in state prison on the rape conviction. He was sent back to prison in 1995 after being arrested in Carlisle on cocaine charges. He asked for the DNA testing in 1999.

Nesmith in court papers said the charges kept him from getting jobs.

“People still think I did this horrible thing, but I did not,” he said. “It hurts to see how they look at me or hear or read what they say about me.”

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